The new caper is partly based on 1964’s Topkapi. “We are just using a sliver of that,” he says, including the same setting, Istanbul. This time, his billionaire thief is after a rare diamond instead of paintings.

While Rene Russo will not return, a female co-star has yet to be named. Angelina Jolie is considered in the running. “This is a different affair,” Brosnan says.